Inhibiting display of advertisements with age-inappropriate content

ABSTRACT

A method includes determining, at a media device, a rating associated with an advertisement. The method also includes receiving, at the media device, information from one or more sensors, where the information indicates that a viewer (e.g., a child) is located within an area associated with the media device. The method includes determining whether the advertisement includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer based on the rating and based on the information. When the advertisement includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer, the method includes inhibiting display of the advertisement.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/023,842 filed on Sep. 17, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/520,186 filed on Oct. 21, 2014 (now U.S.Pat. No. 10,820,051). All sections of the aforementioned application(s)and patent(s) are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is generally related to inhibiting display ofparticular advertisements.

BACKGROUND

Television or other multimedia programming may include advertisementsthat may be unsuitable or otherwise offensive for children. Parents maydesire to limit exposure of their children to such advertisements.However, parents may have limited options available to prevent exposureof children to inappropriate advertisements. For example, when a parentnotices an offensive commercial, the parent may turn off the television,switch to another channel, ask a child to leave the room, or decide tonot watch an otherwise harmless television program. These limitedoptions may result in families missing programming that may otherwiseinclude content that is appropriate for children. Further, in somecases, the child may be exposed to inappropriate advertisements when theparent is not present.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram that illustrates a particular embodiment of a systemfor inhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent for a viewer (e.g., a child);

FIG. 2 is a diagram that illustrates another embodiment of a system forinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent for a viewer (e.g., a child);

FIG. 3 is a diagram that illustrates another embodiment of a system forinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent for a viewer (e.g., a child);

FIG. 4 is a diagram that illustrates another embodiment of a system forinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent for a viewer (e.g., a child);

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates a particular embodiment of amethod to inhibit display of advertisements that includeage-inappropriate content for a viewer (e.g., a child);

FIG. 6 is a flowchart that illustrates another embodiment of a method toinhibit display of advertisements that include age-inappropriate contentfor a viewer (e.g., a child); and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of a generalcomputer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes a parental control application thatdetermines or processes a rating of an advertisement (e.g., acommercial) shown in connection with a program. When a particular viewer(e.g., a child) is determined to be present in an area associated with amedia device (e.g., a set-top box device, a wireless device, or atelevision), the parental control application may allow onlyage-appropriate commercials to be displayed. The parental controlapplication may provide parents with more control over whatadvertisements their children are watching.

In some cases, advertisements may be rated using ratings that aresimilar to television content ratings (e.g., Y, TVG, TVPG, TVMA, also V,S, AC) and/or movie ratings (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). As illustrativeexamples, alcohol advertisements may be assigned an R rating, violentvideo game advertisements may be assigned a V rating, and toyadvertisements may be assigned a G rating. The advertisements may beassigned ratings based on industry agreement or a standard (such as thestandard for television content ratings). In some cases, theadvertisements may be rated by an advertiser or by a service provider(e.g., by a cable service provider, a satellite service provider, or anInternet Protocol Television (IPTV) service provider). That is, in somecases, an advertisement may include a rating that is assigned (e.g., byan advertiser or a service provider) prior to the advertisement beingreceived at the media device. In other cases, ratings may be assigned toparticular types of advertisements by users. To illustrate, an adultuser may configure the media device, such as a set-top box device, toassign particular ratings to specific genres or other categories ofadvertisements. For example, the adult user may configure the mediadevice to assign advertisements related to alcohol a mature rating. Inthis case, the media device (or a server in communication with the mediadevice) may analyze information related to the advertisement (such asclosed captioning information or metadata associated with theadvertisement) to determine the genre (or category) of the advertisementand then use the genre (or category) to determine the rating.

After a rating has been determined for a particular advertisement, themedia device may determine whether the particular advertisement isappropriate for users that are present (e.g., users that are in a roomwith a display device or proximate to the display device). In oneexample, users that are present may provide identifying information(e.g., user identification, etc.). To illustrate, a parent or a childmay provide information indicating that a child is present. For example,a remote control associated with the media device may include a buttonthat may be actuated to indicate to the media device that a child ispresent or to cause the media device to switch to a “Child in the Room”setting.

In another example, a token or other identification system may be usedto determine whether particular users (e.g., children) are present. Toillustrate, a child may be provided with a token (e.g., a bracelet, amobile computing device, a mobile communication device) that he or shewears or carries. The token may be electronically detectable (e.g.,using radio frequency identification (RFID), near-field communication(NFC), or similar systems). In this illustrative example, when the tokenis present, the media device may determine that the child is present.

In another example, non-token based recognition may be used to determinewhether particular users (e.g., children) are present. To illustrate,one or more sensors may be used to gather information that may be usedto identify user(s) that are present. In some cases, sensor(s) of themedia device may identify a size and/or a shape of an individual that ispresent in the room. Alternatively, the sensor(s) may monitor otherenvironmental conditions (e.g., a temperature) and may determine whethera person has entered the room based on a change of environmentalconditions (e.g., a slight rise in temperature). In some cases, facialrecognition and/or voice recognition may be used to identify specificusers or characteristics of specific users, such as age, height, face,voice, etc. To illustrate, an adult user may provide identifyinginformation for each child, such as an age, a gender, a voiceprint/sample, a height, a size, a weight, an image snapshot, or afingerprint. The adult may provide the identifying information for oneor more viewers in a household (e.g., parents and children), and theidentifying information may be stored at the media device as viewerprofile(s). In this example, determining whether an advertisement isappropriate for a particular viewer may include accessing a viewerprofile associated with the particular viewer and determining whether aparticular advertisement includes age-appropriate content based on theviewer profile and a rating associated with the particularadvertisement. Alternatively, the media device may estimate an age (oran age range) of the viewer based on one or more user characteristics(e.g., a size, shape, voice, face), and the media device may determinewhether a particular advertisement includes age-appropriate contentbased on the estimated age (or an age range) of the viewer and a ratingassociated with the particular advertisement. In another example, themedia device may present a user interface to enable an adult user toconfirm that a child is present.

When a child is determined to be present, the media device may inhibitdisplay of age-inappropriate content (e.g., certain commercials). Insome cases, the parental control application may automaticallysubstitute age-appropriate commercials for age-inappropriatecommercials. Alternatively, the media device may blank a display duringan age-inappropriate commercial, display predetermined programming, orchange the channel. When the advertisement including theage-inappropriate content is over, a standard television feed may resume(e.g., a subsequent advertisement or a program may be displayed).

Referring to FIG. 1, a particular embodiment of a system to inhibitdisplay of advertisements that include age-inappropriate content forparticular viewers is illustrated and generally designated 100. Thesystem 100 of FIG. 1 includes a media device 102 that is communicativelycoupled to (or that includes) one or more sensors 104 and coupled to adisplay device 106. In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1,an advertisement 108 and information that identifies a rating 110 of theadvertisement 108 may be received at the media device 102 via a network112. The network 112 may include a wired or a wireless network, such asan over-the-air (OTA) network, a cable network, a satellite network, oran Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) network. Thus, FIG. 1 illustratesone example in which rating information for an advertisement is receivedat the media device 102 from a service provider. In FIG. 1, anadvertiser (or the service provider) may assign the rating 110 (e.g.,based on industry agreement or standard) before sending theadvertisement 108 to the media device 102 via the network 112. In othercases, as described further herein, the advertisements received at themedia device 102 may not include rating information (see e.g., FIGS. 2and 3). An advertisement may include information (e.g., closedcaptioning information or metadata) that is usable to determine a ratingof the advertisement.

The media device 102 is configured to receive information from the oneor more sensors 104. The information may include sensor data 114indicating that a viewer 116 is located within an area 118 that isassociated with the media device 102. For example, the viewer 116 may bedetermined to be located within the area 118 when the viewer 116 is in aroom with the display device 106 or is located proximate to the displaydevice 106. While FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example in which themedia device 102 and the one or more sensors 104 may be separate devicesthat are communicatively coupled via a wired or wireless connection, inalternative cases the one or more sensors 104 may be included within themedia device 102. As an illustrative, non-limiting example, the mediadevice 102 may include a set-top box device, and the sensor(s) 104 mayinclude camera(s), microphone(s), wireless signal detectioncomponent(s), token detection component(s), or a combination thereof.The sensor(s) 104 may be included within the media device 102 or may beseparate from the media device 102 (e.g., in a sound-bar, a component ofa gaming device, etc.) and communicatively coupled to the media device102.

As described further herein, in some cases, the sensor(s) 104 maydetermine that the viewer 116 is located within the area 118 associatedwith the media device 102 in response to receiving a wireless signal,such as a near-field communication (NFC) signal, from a mobile computingdevice (as described further herein with respect to FIG. 2). As anotherexample, the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer 116 is locatedwithin the area 118 associated with the media device 102 in response towirelessly detecting a token, such as a radio frequency identification(RFID) token (as described further herein with respect to FIG. 3). As afurther example, the sensor(s) 104 may include camera(s) and/ormicrophone(s) that provide information (e.g., size, shape, voice, faceinformation) to the media device 102, and the media device 102 mayidentify the viewer 116 based on the information (as described furtherherein with respect FIG. 4). In some cases, the media device 102 mayidentify the viewer 116 using image recognition software and/or voicerecognition software.

The media device 102 is further configured to determine whether theadvertisement 108 includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer 116based on the rating 110 and an age (or estimated age or age range) ofthe viewer 116. In response to determining that the advertisement 108includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer 116, the media device102 is configured to inhibit display of the advertisement 108. Forexample, FIG. 1 illustrates a particular example in which a message 120indicating that the advertisement 108 has been blocked is displayed atthe display device 106. Alternatively, as described further with respectto FIGS. 2-4, other examples of inhibiting display of a particularadvertisement may include displaying alternative age-appropriate content(see FIG. 2), changing to an alternative channel with age-appropriatecontent (see FIG. 3), or displaying a message prompting a user toconfirm that a child is present (see FIG. 4), among other alternatives(e.g., blanking a screen during the advertisement 108).

As an illustrative, non-limiting example, the rating 110 may represent arating for the advertisement 108 that is similar to television contentratings (e.g., TVY, TVY7, TVG, TVPG, TV14, TVMA, also V, S, AC) and/ormovie ratings (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). To illustrate, TVY may beappropriate for all children (including young children, ages 2-6), TVY7may be appropriate for children age 7 and older, TVG may be suitable forall ages, TVPG may be unsuitable for younger children, TV14 may beunsuitable for children under 14 years of age, and TVMA may beunsuitable for children under the age of 17. Similarly, a G (“GeneralAudiences”) rating for movies may include material suitable for allages, a PG (“Parental Guidance Suggested”) rating may include somematerial that may not be suitable for children, a PG-13 (“ParentsStrongly Cautioned”) rating for movies may include some material thatmay be inappropriate for children under 13, and an R (“Restricted”)rating for movies may require a parent or adult guardian for childrenunder 17. In some cases, the advertisement 108 may be assigned therating 110 based on industry agreement or a standard. As a firstillustrative example, in the event that the advertisement 108 includesan alcohol advertisement, the rating 110 may correspond to an R rating.The rating 110 may be assigned by an advertiser associated with theadvertisement 108 (e.g., an alcoholic beverage company) or by a serviceprovider prior to the advertisement 108 being sent to the media device102 via the network 112. Accordingly, FIG. 1 illustrates that the mediadevice 102 may inhibit display of the alcohol advertisement based on theR rating (e.g., by blocking the advertisement 108 before theadvertisement 108 is displayed at the display device 106, as shown at120) when the viewer 116 is a child.

As a second illustrative example, in the event that the advertisement108 includes a violent video game advertisement, the rating 110 maycorrespond to a V rating. In this case, the media device 102 may inhibitdisplay of the violent video game advertisement based on the V rating(e.g., by blocking the advertisement 108 before the advertisement 108 isdisplayed at the display device 106, as shown at 120). As a thirdillustrative example, in the event that the advertisement 108 includes atoy advertisement, the rating 110 may correspond to a G rating. In thiscase, while not shown in the example of FIG. 1, the advertisement 108may be displayed at the display device 106 based on the G rating that isindicative of age-appropriate content. As another example, while notshown in the example of FIG. 1, in the event that the viewer 116 isdetermined to be an adult, the media device 102 may substitute anadult-appropriate advertisement (e.g., an alcohol advertisement) for thetoy advertisement.

Thus, FIG. 1 illustrates a particular embodiment in which theadvertisement 108 includes (or is sent with) information that identifiesthe rating 110 of the advertisement 108. For example, the rating 110 maybe similar to television content ratings (e.g., Y, TVG, TVPG, TVMA, alsoV, S, AC) and/or movie ratings (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). When thesensor(s) 104 indicate that the viewer 116 is located within the area118 associated with the media device 102 (and that the viewer 116 is achild or has an age or estimated age in a particular range), the mediadevice 102 may inhibit display of the advertisement 108 (e.g., byblocking the advertisement 108, as shown at 120) when the rating 110indicates that the advertisement 108 includes age-inappropriate contentfor the viewer 116 (e.g., a child).

Referring to FIG. 2, another embodiment of a system that is capable ofinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent is illustrated and generally designated 200. FIG. 2 illustratesa particular example in which an advertisement 202 does not includeinformation that identifies a rating associated with the advertisement202. Accordingly, in FIG. 2, the rating of the advertisement 202 may bedetermined at the media device 102. FIG. 2 further illustrates aparticular embodiment in which the sensor(s) 104 may determine that theviewer 116 is located within the area 118 associated with the mediadevice 102 based on a wireless signal 204 received from a computingdevice 206. In some cases, the wireless signal 204 received from thecomputing device 206 may include a near-field communication (NFC)signal.

In the particular example of FIG. 2, the advertisement 202 may bereceived at the media device 102 via the network 112. As described withrespect to FIG. 1, the media device 102 is configured to receiveinformation from the sensor(s) 104 indicating that the viewer 116 islocated within the area 118 associated with the media device 102 (e.g.,when the viewer 116 is in a room with the display device 106 orproximate to the display device 106). In the particular embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer116 is located within the area 118 associated with the media device 102in response to receiving the wireless signal 204 from the computingdevice 206. In some cases, the wireless signal 204 may include an NFCsignal, a Wi-Fi signal, an infrared signal, or a radio frequency signal,among other alternatives. In a particular embodiment, the computingdevice 206 may be a mobile computing device (e.g., a phone, a tabletcomputing device, etc.) of a child. In this case, the media device 102may determine that the viewer 116 is a child based on informationincluded in the wireless signal 204 that identifies the computing device206 as being associated with a child. As an illustrative, non-limitingexample, the wireless signal 204 may include a media access control(MAC) address, and the media device 102 may store the MAC address in amemory 206 in association with a particular child. In some cases, theremay be multiple children associated with a particular location (e.g., ahousehold). Accordingly, in these cases, individual MAC addresses (orother device identifiers) associated with individual computing devicesfor each child may be stored in the memory 206 and may be used todetermine whether to inhibit display of particular advertisements.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the media device 102includes an advertisement module 210 that may be stored in the memory208. The advertisement module 210 may be configured to determine arating associated with the advertisement 202. In some cases, theadvertisement module 210 may access a user profile 212 that may includeuser defined settings 214 in order to assign a rating to theadvertisement 202. A user (e.g., an adult user or a parent) may assignparticular ratings to particular types of advertisements, and the usermay save the information in the user profile 212 as the user definedsettings 214. As illustrative, non-limiting examples, the user (e.g.,the parent) may assign a mature rating (e.g., an R rating) toadvertisements related to alcohol, a violent rating (e.g., a V rating)to advertisements related to violent video games, and a general audiencerating (e.g., a G rating) to advertisements related to toys, among otheralternatives.

In operation, the media device 102 of FIG. 2 may determine whether theadvertisement 202 includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer 116based on the rating that is assigned to the advertisement 202 by theadvertisement module 210 and based on an age of the viewer 116. Inresponse to determining that the advertisement 202 includesage-inappropriate content, the media device 102 may retrieve alternativecontent 216 from the memory 208. In the particular embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, the media device 102 may inhibit display of theadvertisement 202 before the advertisement 202 is displayed at thedisplay device 106 and may cause display of the alternative content 216at the display device 106 during a time period associated with theadvertisement 202, as shown at 218.

As a first illustrative example, the advertisement 202 may include analcohol advertisement, and the advertisement module 210 may assign arating corresponding to an R rating based on the user defined settings214 stored in the user profile 212. In this case, the media device 102may determine that the advertisement 202 includes age-inappropriatecontent for any child viewer based on the R rating. Accordingly, themedia device 102 may inhibit display of the advertisement 202, as theadult user (e.g., a parent) has provided the user defined settings 214that indicate that advertisements related to alcohol representage-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 (e.g., a child) and thatdisplay of this type of advertisement is to be inhibited. As a secondillustrative example, the advertisement 108 may include a violent videogame advertisement, and the advertisement module 210 may assign a ratingcorresponding to a V rating based on the user defined settings 214stored in the user profile 212. Accordingly, the media device 102 mayinhibit display of the advertisement 202 for certain viewers (e.g., forchildren having an age below a threshold, such as under the age of 13),as the user defined settings 214 indicate that advertisements related toviolent video games represent age-inappropriate content for the viewer116 (or some viewers) and that display of this type of advertisement isto be inhibited.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, alternativeage-appropriate content is displayed at the display device 106, as shownat 218. For example, the alternative age-appropriate content may bestored in the memory 208 of the media device 102. As another example,the alternative age-appropriate content may be accessible to the mediadevice 102 via the network 112. In some cases, the alternativeage-appropriate content may include audio, video, still image(s), or acombination thereof that may be appropriate for a child (e.g., contenthaving a G rating). Alternatively, as described further with respect toFIG. 3, the alternative age-appropriate content may represent contentthat is associated with another television channel (e.g., a kids channelor a music channel), and the media device 102 may be configured toinhibit display of a particular advertisement by changing from a currenttelevision channel associated with the particular advertisement to theother television channel.

Thus, in contrast to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 illustrates that an advertiser or aservice provider may not assign a rating to the advertisement 202 beforethe advertisement 202 is sent to the media device 102. Accordingly, themedia device 102 may determine the rating using the advertisement module210 (e.g., based on the user profile 212 that includes the user definedsettings 214). FIG. 2 further illustrates that the advertisement module210 may access alternative content 216 (e.g., age-appropriate content)that may be stored in the memory 208 for display via the display device106, as shown at 218. One benefit of using the media device 102 todetermine whether to inhibit display of the advertisement 202 is thatage-inappropriate advertisements may be blocked regardless of whether anadvertiser provides a rating for the advertisement 202.

Referring to FIG. 3, another embodiment of a system that is capable ofinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent is illustrated and generally designated 300. FIG. 3 illustratesanother example in which an advertisement 302 does not includeinformation that identifies a rating associated with the advertisement302. The rating of the advertisement 302 may be determined at the mediadevice 102. In FIG. 3, a rating of the advertisement 302 may bedetermined based on closed captioning information 304 associated withthe advertisement 302, metadata 306 associated with the advertisement302, or a combination thereof. FIG. 3 further illustrates a particularembodiment in which the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer 116is located within the area 118 associated with the media device 102 inresponse to wireless detection of a token 308, as shown at 310. Forexample, the token 308 may be included within a device 312, and thetoken 308 may be wirelessly detectable by the one or more sensors 104based on a signal (e.g., an RFID signal).

In the particular example of FIG. 3, the advertisement 302 may bereceived at the media device 102 via the network 112 (e.g., via a wiredor wireless network, such as a cable network, a satellite network, or anIPTV network). As described with respect to FIG. 1, the media device 102is configured to receive information from the one or more sensors 104indicating that the viewer 116 is located within the area 118 associatedwith the media device 102 (e.g., when the viewer 116 is in a room withthe display device 106 or proximate to the display device 106). In theparticular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the one or more sensor(s)104 may determine that the viewer 116 is located within the area 118associated with the media device 102 in response to wirelessly detectingthe token 308, as shown at 310. FIG. 3 illustrates that, in some cases,the token 308 may be included within a device 312 (e.g., a wearablecomputing device) associated with the viewer 116, such as a watch,bracelet, or a headset. In a particular embodiment, the device 312 maybe a mobile computing device (e.g., a phone, a tablet computing device,etc.) of a child. In this case, the media device 102 may determine thatthe viewer 116 is a child based on the token 308 that identifies thedevice 312 as being associated with a child. As an illustrative,non-limiting example, the token 308 may be associated with a particularRFID tag, and the media device 102 may store information associated withthe particular RFID tag in the memory 206 in association with aparticular child. In some cases, there may be multiple childrenassociated with a particular location (e.g., a household). Accordingly,in these cases, information associated with multiple individual tokens(e.g., multiple RFID tags) associated with individual children may bestored in the memory 206 and may be used to determine whether to inhibitdisplay of particular advertisements.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the media device 102includes an advertisement module 314 that may be stored in the memory206. The advertisement module 314 may be configured to determine arating associated with the advertisement 302. FIG. 3 illustrates thatthe advertisement module 314 may include a genre determination module316 to determine a genre associated with the advertisement 302. In theparticular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, one or more genres 318 maybe stored in the memory 206, and the advertisement module 314 may beconfigured to determine a particular genre that is associated with theadvertisement 302 based on the closed captioning information 304, themetadata 306, or a combination thereof.

As an illustrative example, the closed captioning information 304associated with the advertisement 302 may include one or more words thatare stored in the memory 206 and that are associated with a genre ofalcohol advertisements. In this example, the advertisement module 314may assign a rating corresponding to an R rating based on adetermination that the advertisement 302 includes content related toalcohol, representing age-inappropriate content for children.Accordingly, the media device 102 may inhibit display of theadvertisement 302 if a child viewer is detected. Alternatively oradditionally, the metadata 306 associated with the advertisement 302 mayinclude one or more words associated with particular advertisers. Toillustrate, with respect to the genre of alcohol advertisements, thememory 206 may store information such as names of alcoholic beveragecompanies, names of particular brands of alcoholic beverages, types ofalcoholic beverages (e.g., beer, wine, rum, whiskey, etc.), among otheralternatives. When the advertisement module 314 determines that theadvertisement 302 is related to alcohol based on a comparison of themetadata 306 included in the advertisement 302 to the genre(s) 318stored in the memory 206, the media device 102 may inhibit display ofthe advertisement 302 if a child viewer is detected.

As another illustrative example, the closed captioning information 304associated with the advertisement 302 may include one or more words thatare stored in the memory 206 and that are associated with a genre ofviolent video game advertisements. To illustrate, the memory 206 maystore information such as names of violent video games or names ofparticular video game makers, among other alternatives. In this example,the advertisement module 314 may assign a rating corresponding to a Vrating based on a determination that the advertisement 302 includescontent related to violent video games, representing age-inappropriatecontent for certain children based on age or age range. Accordingly, themedia device 102 may inhibit display of the advertisement 302 if a childviewer is present. Alternatively or additionally, the metadata 306associated with the advertisement 302 may include one or more words thatare stored in the memory 206 and that are associated with a genre ofviolent video game advertisements. When the advertisement module 314determines that the advertisement 302 includes age-inappropriate contentfor a particular viewer based on a comparison of the metadata 306included in the advertisement 302 to the genre(s) 318 stored in thememory 206, the media device 106 may inhibit display of theadvertisement 302.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, an alternativechannel with age-appropriate content is displayed at the display device106, as shown at 320. For example, one or more alternative channels 322that are associated with age-appropriate content may be stored in thememory 208 of the media device 102. As another example, the alternativechannels that are associated with age-appropriate content may beaccessible to the media device 102 via the network 112. The media device102 may be configured to inhibit display of the advertisement 302related to alcohol or to a violent video game by changing from a currenttelevision channel associated with the alcohol or violent video gameadvertisement to another television channel (e.g., a kids music channelor another kids channel).

Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates that the advertisement 302 may not includeinformation that identifies a rating associated with the advertisement302. Accordingly, the rating may be determined at the media device 102using the advertisement module 314. The advertisement module 314 may usethe closed captioning information 304 included with the advertisement302 and/or the metadata 306 included with the advertisement 302 todetermine a genre associated with the advertisement 302. Based on thegenre, the advertisement module 314 may assign a rating to theadvertisement 302, and age-inappropriate content may be inhibited fromdisplay. FIG. 3 further illustrates that the advertisement module 314may access alternative channel(s) 322 (e.g., age-appropriate channels)for display via the display device 106, as shown at 320.

Referring to FIG. 4, another embodiment of a system that is capable ofinhibiting display of advertisements that include age-inappropriatecontent is illustrated and generally designated 400. FIG. 4 furtherillustrates a particular embodiment in which the sensor(s) 104 mayprovide information (e.g., size, shape, voice, face information) to themedia device 102. In some embodiments, the information may be used bythe media device 102 to identify the viewer 116 (e.g., by voice orfacial recognition) or to estimate an age of the viewer 116 in order todetermine whether to inhibit display of age-inappropriate content. FIG.4 further illustrates that an adult viewer 404 (e.g., a parent) mayprovide an indication to the media device 102 to confirm whether theviewer 116 is a child (or has an age within a particular age range).

In the particular example of FIG. 4, an advertisement 402 may bereceived at the media device 102 via the network 112 (e.g., via a wiredor wireless network, such as a cable network, a satellite network, or anIPTV network). As described with respect to FIG. 1, the media device 102is configured to receive information from the one or more sensors 104indicating that the viewer 116 (and the adult viewer 404) is locatedwithin the area 118 associated with the media device 102 (e.g., when theviewer 116 and the adult viewer are in a room with the display device106 or proximate to the display device 106). In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4, the one or more sensors 104 include one or morecameras 406, one or more microphones 408, or a combination thereof.Thus, the one or more sensors 104 may detect that the viewer 116 (andthe adult viewer 404) is located within the area 118 based on visualinformation, audio information, or a combination thereof.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the media device 102includes an advertisement module 410 that may be stored in the memory206. In some cases, the advertisement 402 may include a rating (notshown in FIG. 4). In this case, as described with respect to FIG. 1, theadvertisement module 410 may determine whether to inhibit display ofparticular content based on the rating included in the advertisement(and based on the age or estimated age range of the viewer 116). Inother cases, the advertisement 402 may not include a rating. In thesecases, the advertisement module 410 may be configured to determine therating of the advertisement 402, as described further with respect toFIG. 2 and FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates that the advertisement module 410 may include an ageestimation module 412 to estimate an age of the viewer 116 based on theinformation received from the one or more sensors 104. In the particularembodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, one or more viewer profiles 414 may bestored in the memory 206 and may include one or more voice profiles 416and/or one or more image profiles 418. In some cases, voice recognitionmay be performed by comparing voice information received from the one ormore microphones 408 to the one or more image profiles 418 stored in thememory 206. In other cases, facial recognition may be performed bycomparing visual information received from the one or more cameras 406to the one or more image profiles 418 stored in the memory 206. In somecases, the advertisement module 410 may also estimate the age of theadult viewer 404. Alternatively, the adult viewer 404 may provideidentifying information, such as a personal identification number (PIN)or a fingerprint, among other alternatives to identify herself as anadult.

When the advertisement module 410 determines, based on voice recognitionand/or facial recognition that the viewer 116 is a child (or a childwith an age in a certain age range), the media device 102 may inhibitdisplay of the advertisement 402 in the event that the advertisement 402includes age-inappropriate content. In some cases, the advertisementmodule 410 may be unable to determine a match based on voice recognitionand/or facial recognition (e.g., when the child does not have aprofile). However, size information, facial information, and/or voiceinformation may indicate that the viewer 116 is a child, and theadvertisement module 410 may inhibit display of the advertisement 402 inthe event that the advertisement 402 includes age-inappropriate content.In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, a user interface 420may be displayed via the display device 106. The user interface 420 mayinclude text and/or a prompt (e.g., “Child Present?”) to indicate (e.g.,to the adult viewer 404) that a child has been detected in the area 118.In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the user interface 420 includes afirst selectable option 422 to confirm that the viewer 116 is a childand a second selectable option 424 to indicate that the viewer 116 isnot a child. FIG. 4 further illustrates that the adult viewer 404 (e.g.,the parent) may select one of the selectable options 422, 424 via aremote control 426 associated with the media device 102.

Thus, FIG. 4 illustrates that the one or more sensors 104 (e.g., thecamera(s) 406 and/or the microphone(s) 408) may provide information todetermine whether the viewer 116 (e.g., a child) is located within thearea 118 associated with the media device 102 (e.g., by voicerecognition, facial recognition, or by estimating an age of the viewer116). FIG. 4 further illustrates that in some cases the adult viewer 404(e.g., a parent) may confirm that the viewer 116 is a child (e.g., byselecting the first selectable option 422 using the remote control 426).Thus, the media device 102 may inhibit display of the advertisement 402when the advertisement 402 appears to represent age-inappropriatecontent for the viewer 116, but the adult viewer 404 may provide anindication to the media device 102 that the viewer 116 is not a child(e.g., by selecting the second selectable option 424 via the remotecontrol 426). In this case, the media device 102 may display theadvertisement 402 and/or subsequent advertisement(s) that wouldotherwise appear to represent age-inappropriate content for the viewer116. In some cases, the adult viewer 404 may override the inhibition ofdisplay of the advertisement 402 by selecting the second selectableoption 424 via the remote control 426.

Referring to FIG. 5, a particular embodiment of a method to inhibitdisplay of advertisements that include age-inappropriate content forcertain viewers is illustrated and generally designated 500. FIG. 5illustrates a particular example in which information associated with anadvertisement may identify a rating of the advertisement. In FIG. 5, amedia device may inhibit display of the advertisement when the ratingindicates that the advertisement includes age-inappropriate content fora particular viewer (e.g., a child) and the particular viewer is locatedwithin an area associated with the media device.

The method 500 includes receiving an advertisement at a media device, at502. In the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, informationassociated with the advertisement identifies a rating of theadvertisement. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the advertisement 108received at the media device 102 includes the rating 110. In some cases,the rating 110 may represent a rating for the advertisement 108 that issimilar to television content ratings (e.g., Y, TVG, TVPG, TVMA, also V,S, AC) and/or movie ratings (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). In some cases, anadvertisements may be assigned a rating based on industry agreement orstandard (such as for television content ratings). As a firstillustrative example, in the event that the advertisement 108 includesan alcohol advertisement, the rating 110 may correspond to an R rating.As a second illustrative example, in the event that the advertisement108 includes a violent video game advertisement, the rating 110 maycorrespond to a V rating. As a third illustrative example, in the eventthat the advertisement 108 includes a toy advertisement, the rating 110may correspond to a G rating.

The method 500 includes receiving information from one or more sensors,at 504. The information received from the one or more sensors indicatesthat a viewer (e.g., a child) is located within an area associated withthe media device. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the one or moresensors 104 may provide the sensor data 114 to the media device 102 toindicate that the viewer 116 (e.g., a child) is located within the areaassociated with the media device 102. To illustrate, referring to FIG.2, the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer 116 is located withinthe area 118 associated with the media device 102 based on the wirelesssignal 204 received from the mobile computing device 206. As anotherexample, referring to FIG. 3, the sensor(s) 104 may determine that theviewer 116 (e.g., a child) is located within the area 118 associatedwith the media device 102 in response to wireless detection of the token308. As a further example, referring to FIG. 4, the sensor(s) 104 mayprovide information (e.g., size, shape, voice, face information) to themedia device 102, and the media device 102 may estimate an age or an agerange of the viewer 116 based on the information.

The method 500 includes determining whether the advertisement includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer based on the rating and basedon the information, at 506. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the mediadevice 102 may determine whether the advertisement 108 includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 based on the rating 108included with the advertisement 108 received from the network 112 andbased on the age or the age range of the viewer 116. As a firstillustrative example, the advertisement 108 may include an alcoholadvertisement, and the rating 110 may correspond to an R rating. In thiscase, the media device 102 may determine that the advertisement 108includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 (e.g., a child)based on the R rating. As a second illustrative example, theadvertisement 108 may include a violent video game advertisement, andthe rating 110 may correspond to a V rating. In this case, the mediadevice 102 may determine that the advertisement 108 includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 based on the V rating andbased on whether the age or age range of the viewer 116 does not satisfyan age threshold associated with the V rating.

In response to determining that the advertisement includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer, the method 500 includesinhibiting display of the advertisement, at 508. For example, referringto FIG. 1, the media device 102 may inhibit display of the advertisement108 at the display device 106. FIG. 1 illustrates a particular examplein which the message 120 indicates that the advertisement 108 has beenblocked. Alternatively, as described further with respect to FIGS. 2-4,other examples of inhibiting display may include displaying alternativeage-appropriate content (see FIG. 2), changing to an alternative channelwith age-appropriate content (see FIG. 3), or displaying a messageprompting a user to confirm that a child is present (see FIG. 4), amongother alternatives (e.g., blanking a screen during the advertisement108).

When the advertisement does not include age-inappropriate content forthe viewer, the method 500 may include displaying the advertisement, at510. As an illustrative example, referring to FIG. 1, the advertisement108 may include a toy advertisement, and the rating 110 may correspondto a G rating. In this case, the media device 102 may display theadvertisement 108 at the display device 106 in response to determiningthat the advertisement 108 does not include age-inappropriate contentfor the viewer 116 based on the G rating. Alternatively, when the viewer116 is an adult, the media device 102 may replace the advertisement 108having the G rating with another advertisement, such as an advertisementwith a mature rating.

Thus, FIG. 5 illustrates that in some cases, an advertisement mayinclude information that identifies a rating of the advertisement. Forexample, the rating may represent a rating that is similar to televisioncontent ratings (e.g., Y, TVG, TVPG, TVMA, also V, S, AC) and/or movieratings (e.g., G, PG, PG-13, R). The rating may be assigned to theadvertisement (e.g., by an advertiser or a service provider) based onindustry agreement or standard (such as for television and/or moviecontent ratings). A media device may inhibit display of a particularadvertisement when the rating indicates that the advertisement includesage-inappropriate content for a particular viewer (e.g., a child) andsensor(s) indicate that the particular viewer is located within an areaassociated with the media device.

Referring to FIG. 6, another particular embodiment of a method toinhibit display of advertisements that include age-inappropriate contentis illustrated and generally designated 600. FIG. 6 illustrates anexample in which a media device may determine a rating associated withan advertisement and may inhibit display of the advertisement when theadvertisement includes age-inappropriate content for a particular viewer(e.g., a child) and the particular viewer is located within an areaassociated with the media device.

The method 600 includes determining, at a media device, a ratingassociated with an advertisement, at 602. For example, referring to FIG.2, the media device 102 may determine a rating associated with theadvertisement 202. The advertisement 202 of FIG. 2 does not includeinformation that identifies a rating of the advertisement 202.Accordingly, the advertisement module 210 of the media device 102 mayaccess the user profile 212 that includes user defined settings 214 todetermine the rating of the advertisement 202. In some cases, a user(e.g., an adult) may configure the media device 102 to assign particularratings to specific genres of advertisements and may save the userdefined settings 214 in the memory 206. As illustrative, non-limitingexamples, the user may configure the media device 102 to assign a maturerating (e.g., an R rating) to advertisements related to alcohol, aviolent rating (e.g., a V rating) to violent video game advertisements,and a general audience rating (e.g., a G rating) to toy advertisements,among other alternatives.

In other cases, a user (e.g., an adult) may activate anage-inappropriate advertisement inhibition feature at the media device102, and the media device 102 may automatically determine a ratingassociated with a particular advertisement. For example, referring toFIG. 3, the genre determination module 316 of the media device 102 maydetermine the genre associated with the advertisement 302 based on theclosed captioning information 304, the metadata 306, or a combinationthereof. As an illustrative, non-limiting example, the closed captioninginformation 304 associated with the advertisement 302 may include one ormore words that are stored in the memory 206 and that are associatedwith a genre of alcohol advertisements. As another example, the metadata306 associated with the advertisement 302 may include one or more wordsassociated with particular advertisers. To illustrate, with respect tothe genre of alcohol advertisements, the memory 206 may storeinformation such as names of alcoholic beverage companies, names ofparticular brands of alcoholic beverages, types of alcoholic beverages(e.g., beer, wine, rum, whiskey, etc.), among other alternatives. Theadvertisement module 314 of the media device 102 may determine therating associated with the advertisement 302 based on the genre of theadvertisement 302. As an illustrative, non-limiting example, in theevent that the genre determination module 316 determines that theadvertisement 302 is in the genre of alcohol advertisements, theadvertisement module 314 may assign a rating corresponding to an Rrating, representing age-inappropriate content for particular viewers(e.g., children).

The method 600 includes receiving, at the media device, information fromone or more sensors, at 604. The information indicates that a viewer islocated within an area associated with the media device. For example,referring to FIG. 2, the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer 116is located within the area 118 associated with the media device 102based on the wireless signal 204 (e.g., an NFC signal) received from themobile computing device 206. As another example, referring to FIG. 3,the sensor(s) 104 may determine that the viewer 116 is located withinthe area 118 associated with the media device 102 in response towireless detection of the token 308. As a further example, referring toFIG. 4, the sensor(s) 104 may provide information (e.g., size, shape,voice, face information) to the media device 102, and the media device102 may estimate an age of the viewer 116 based on the information.

The method 600 includes determining whether the advertisement includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer based on the rating and basedon the information, at 606. For example, referring to FIG. 2, the mediadevice 102 may determine whether the advertisement 202 includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 based on a rating that isdetermined by the advertisement module 210 and based on an age or an agerange of the viewer 116. As a first illustrative example, theadvertisement 202 may include an alcohol advertisement, and the ratingmay correspond to an R rating. In this case, the media device 102 maydetermine that the advertisement 108 includes age-inappropriate contentfor the viewer 116 based on the R rating. As a second illustrativeexample, the advertisement 108 may include a violent video gameadvertisement, and the rating 110 may correspond to a V rating. In thiscase, the media device 102 may determine that the advertisement 108includes age-inappropriate content for the viewer 116 based on the Vrating.

In response to determining that the advertisement includesage-inappropriate content for the viewer, the method 600 includesinhibiting display of the advertisement, at 608. When the advertisementdoes not include age-inappropriate content for the viewer, the method600 may include displaying the advertisement, at 610.

Referring to FIG. 7, an illustrative embodiment of a general computersystem is shown and is designated 700. The computer system 700 includesa set of instructions that can be executed to cause the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the methods or computer basedfunctions disclosed herein. The computer system 700 may operate as astandalone device or may be connected, e.g., using a network, to othercomputer systems or peripheral devices. For example, the computer system700 may include or may be included within any one or more of the mediadevice 102, the computing device 206, the device 312, or combinationsthereof described with reference to FIGS. 1-4.

In a networked deployment, the computer system 700 may operate in thecapacity of a client user computer in a server-client user networkenvironment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. The computer system 700 may also beimplemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as a mobiledevice, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, acommunications device, a wireless telephone, a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a set-top box (STB), atelevision, an automobile, a customer premises equipment device, anendpoint device, a web appliance, or any other machine capable ofexecuting a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specifyactions to be taken by that machine. In a particular embodiment, thecomputer system 700 may be implemented using electronic devices thatprovide video, audio, or data communication. Further, while a singlecomputer system 700 is illustrated, the term “system” shall also betaken to include any collection of systems or sub-systems thatindividually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, of instructionsto perform one or more computer functions.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the computer system 700 may include aprocessor 702, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or both. For example, the processor 702 mayinclude or correspond to a processor of the media device 102, thecomputing device 206, or the device 312. Moreover, the computer system700 may include a main memory 704 and a static memory 706, which cancommunicate with each other via a bus 708. For example, the main memory704 may include or correspond to the memory 206 of the media device 102,a memory of the computing device 206, or a memory of the device 312. Asshown, the computer system 700 may further include a video display unit710, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode(LED) display, a touch screen display, a flat panel display, or a solidstate display. For example, the video display unit 710 may correspond tothe display device 106 associated with the media device 102.Additionally, the computer system 700 may include an input device 712,such as a remote control device (e.g., the remote control 426 associatedwith the media device 102) or a keyboard (e.g., for an adult user toprovide a personal identification number or other identificationinformation). In some cases, the computer system 700 may include acursor control device 714, such as a mouse or a cursor control of atablet computer (e.g., for an adult user to select a particularselectable option, such as the selectable options 422, 422 illustratedin FIG. 4). In some embodiments, the input device 712 and the cursorcontrol device 714 may be integrated into a single device, such as acapacitive touch screen input device. The computer system 700 may alsoinclude a drive unit 716, a signal generation device 718, such as aspeaker, and a network interface device 720.

In a particular embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 7, the drive unit 716may include computer-readable storage 722 in which authenticationinformation (e.g., a personal identification number of an adult user,such as the adult user 404 of FIG. 4), identifiers (e.g., of particularviewers, such as one or more children), and one or more sets ofinstructions 724, e.g. software, can be embedded. The computer-readablestorage 722 may be random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), register(s), solid-state memory,hard disk, a removable disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM),other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, magnetic storagedevices, or any other storage device that can be used to store programcode in the form of instructions or data and that can be accessed by acomputer and/or a processor. Computer-readable storage is not a signal.Further, the instructions 724 may embody one or more of the methods orlogic as described herein. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, theinstructions 724 include an age-inappropriate advertisement filteringmodule 726. The instructions 724, including the age-inappropriateadvertisement filtering module 726, may be executable by the processor702 to perform one or more functions or methods described herein, suchas the methods 500 or 600 described with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. 6,respectively. In a particular embodiment, the instructions 724 mayreside completely, or at least partially, within the main memory 704,the static memory 706, and/or within the processor 702 during executionby the computer system 700. The main memory 704 and the processor 702also may include a computer-readable storage device.

In an alternative embodiment, dedicated hardware implementations, suchas application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arraysand other hardware devices, may be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods described herein. Various embodiments may include avariety of electronic and computer systems. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein may implement functions using two or more specificinterconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and datasignals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or asportions of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).Accordingly, the present system encompasses software, firmware, andhardware implementations.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, themethods described herein may be implemented by software programsexecutable by a computer system, a processor, or a device, which mayinclude forms of instructions embodied as a state machine implementedwith logic components in an ASIC or a field programmable gate array(FPGA) device. Further, in an exemplary, non-limiting embodiment,implementations may include distributed processing, component/objectdistributed processing, and parallel processing. Alternatively, virtualcomputer system processing may be constructed to implement one or moreof the methods or functionality as described herein. It is further notedthat a computing device, such as a processor, a controller, a statemachine or other suitable device for executing instructions to performoperations may perform such operations directly or indirectly by way ofone or more intermediate devices directed by the computing device.

The present disclosure includes computer-readable storage 722 thatstores instructions 724, so that a device connected to a network 728 maycommunicate voice, video or data over the network 728. While thecomputer-readable storage 722 is shown to be a single storage unit, thecomputer-readable storage device 722 may include a single storage unitor multiple storage units, such as a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers that store one or moresets of instructions. The computer-readable storage 722 is capable ofstoring a set of instructions for execution by a processor to cause acomputer system to perform any one or more of the methods or operationsdisclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable storage 722 may include a solid-state memory such asembedded memory (or a memory card or other package that houses one ormore non-volatile read-only memories). Further, the computer-readablestorage 722 may be a random access memory or other volatile re-writablememory. Additionally, the computer-readable storage 722 may include amagneto-optical or optical device, such as a disk or tapes or otherstorage device. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include anyone or more of a computer-readable storage device and other equivalentsand successor devices, in which data or instructions may be stored.

Although the one or more components and functions may be describedherein as being implemented with reference to particular standards orprotocols, the disclosure is not limited to such standards andprotocols. Such standards are from time-to-time superseded by faster ormore efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions.Wireless standards for device detection, short-range communications, andlong-range communications can be used by the computer system 700 inselected embodiments.

The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the structure of the variousembodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a completedescription of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systemsthat utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many otherembodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewingthe disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from thedisclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Figuresare also merely representational and may not be drawn to scale.Accordingly, the disclosure and the figures are to be regarded asillustrative rather than restrictive.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangementdesigned to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted forthe specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover anyand all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments.

Less than all of the steps or functions described with respect to theexemplary processes or methods can also be performed in one or more ofthe exemplary embodiments. Further, the use of numerical terms todescribe a device, component, step or function, such as first, second,third, and so forth, is not intended to describe an order unlessexpressly stated. The use of the terms first, second, third and soforth, is generally to distinguish between devices, components, steps orfunctions unless expressly stated otherwise. Additionally, one or moredevices or components described with respect to the exemplaryembodiments can facilitate one or more functions, where the facilitating(e.g., facilitating access or facilitating establishing a connection)can include less than every step needed to perform the function or caninclude all of the steps needed to perform the function.

In one or more embodiments, a processor (which can include a controlleror circuit) has been described that performs various functions. Itshould be understood that the processor can be implemented as multipleprocessors, which can include distributed processors or parallelprocessors in a single machine or multiple machines. The processor canbe used in supporting a virtual processing environment. The virtualprocessing environment may support one or more virtual machinesrepresenting computers, servers, or other computing devices. In suchvirtual machines (e.g., virtual servers), components such asmicroprocessors and storage devices may be virtualized or logicallyrepresented. The processor can include a state machine, an applicationspecific integrated circuit, and/or a programmable gate array (PGA)including a FPGA. In one or more embodiments, when a processor executesinstructions to perform “operations”, this can include the processorperforming the operations directly and/or facilitating, directing, orcooperating with another device or component to perform the operations.

The Abstract is provided with the understanding that it will not be usedto interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition,in the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may be groupedtogether or described in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter may be directed toless than all of the features of any of the disclosed embodiments. Thus,the following claims are incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as defining separately claimedsubject matter.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall withinthe scope of the present disclosure. Thus, to the maximum extent allowedby law, the scope of the present disclosure is to be determined by thebroadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and theirequivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoingdetailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a mediadevice, sensor data, wherein the sensor data indicates that a viewer islocated within a viewing area associated with presentations by the mediadevice, and wherein the sensor data comprises image data associated withthe viewer captured from a plurality of cameras; estimating, by themedia device, an age or an age range of the viewer, wherein theestimating is based on a comparison of the image data to an imagesnapshot of the viewer stored at the media device as part of a viewerprofile for the viewer, and wherein the image snapshot is provided tothe media device by an adult viewer; determining, by the media device,that the viewer is subject to parental controls in accordance with theestimating and in accordance with a confirmation from the adult viewerthat the viewer is subject to the parental controls; making an initialdetermination that a first advertisement is displayable to the viewer inaccordance with the determining that the viewer is subject to theparental controls; and in response to determining that informationprocessed from the sensor data indicates no children in the viewing areaand indicates that viewers in the viewing area are adults, replacing, bythe media device, the first advertisement with a second advertisementprior to a presentation by the media device, wherein the secondadvertisement is determined to be appropriate for a mature audience. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein a first camera of the plurality ofcameras is included in the media device, and wherein a second camera ofthe plurality of cameras is included in a gaming device that iscommunicatively coupled to the media device.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the making of the initial determination that the firstadvertisement is displayable to the viewer is based on a first ratingassociated with the first advertisement.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the first advertisement includes metadata that identifies thefirst rating.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first rating isdetermined by the media device based on a genre of the firstadvertisement, the method further comprising: sending the secondadvertisement from the media device to a display device.
 6. The methodof claim 3, wherein the media device determines the first rating of thefirst advertisement based on closed captioning information associatedwith the first advertisement.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising determining that the viewer is located within the viewingarea in response to detecting a token.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe token is detectable based on a radio frequency identification signalor a near-field communication signal.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe token is transmitted by a device of a child.
 10. The method of claim1, further comprising, in response to determining that secondinformation processed from the sensor data indicates a child in theviewing area, sending the first advertisement to a display device. 11.The method of claim 10, further comprising preventing display of thesecond advertisement during a time period when the second informationprocessed from the sensor data indicates the child in the viewing area,wherein the preventing display of the second advertisement includesdisplaying a third advertisement with a rating appropriate for childrenor displaying an alternative channel that includes age-appropriatecontent for the viewer.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensordata comprises a wireless signal transmitted by a mobile computingdevice of a child.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the wirelesssignal includes a media access control (MAC) address of the mobilecomputing device, and wherein the making of the initial determinationthat the first advertisement is displayable to the viewer is further inaccordance with the MAC address.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein thesensor data comprises temperature data, the method further comprising:determining, by the media device, that the viewer has entered theviewing area based on detecting an increase in temperature in theviewing area in accordance with the temperature data.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the sensor data comprises a first signal received bythe media device from a remote control.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the first signal indicates that the viewer is a child, whereinthe making of the initial determination that the first advertisement isdisplayable to the viewer is further based on the first signal, andwherein the information processed from the sensor data that indicates nochildren in the viewing area and indicates that viewers in the viewingarea are adults is based on a second signal received by the media devicefrom the remote control subsequent to receipt of the first signal by themedia device.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage devicestoring instructions executable by a processor of a media device toperform operations, the operations comprising: receiving, by the mediadevice, sensor data from a sensor, wherein the sensor data indicatesthat a viewer is located within an area associated with presentations bythe media device, and wherein the sensor data comprises image dataassociated with the viewer captured from at least one camera;estimating, by the media device, an age or an age range of the viewer,wherein the estimating is based on a comparison of the image data to animage snapshot of the viewer stored at the media device as part of aviewer profile for the viewer, and wherein the image snapshot isprovided to the media device by an adult viewer; making an initialdetermination, by the media device and in accordance with the estimatingand in accordance with a confirmation from the adult viewer that theviewer is subject to parental controls, that a first advertisement isdisplayable to the viewer; and in response to determining thatinformation processed from the sensor data indicates no children in thearea and indicates that viewers in the area are adults, replacing, bythe media device, the first advertisement with a second advertisementprior to a presentation by the media device, wherein the secondadvertisement is determined to be appropriate for a mature audience. 18.The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim 17, whereinthe making of the initial determination that the first advertisement isdisplayable to the viewer is based on a first rating associated with thefirst advertisement, and wherein the operations further comprise, inresponse to determining that second information processed from thesensor data indicates a child in the area, sending the firstadvertisement to a display device.
 19. A media device comprising: aprocessor; and a memory in communication with the processor, the memoryincluding instructions executable by the processor to performoperations, the operations including: estimating, by the media device,an age or an age range of a viewer in a viewing area associated withpresentations by the media device in accordance with sensor data from asensor, wherein the sensor data comprises image data associated with theviewer captured from a plurality of cameras, wherein the estimating isbased on a comparison of the image data to an image snapshot of theviewer stored at the media device as part of a viewer profile for theviewer, and wherein the image snapshot is provided to the media deviceby an adult viewer; and making an initial determination that a firstadvertisement is displayable to the viewer in response to determiningthat the viewer is subject to parental controls in accordance with theestimating and in accordance with a confirmation from the adult viewerthat the viewer is subject to the parental controls.
 20. The mediadevice of claim 19, wherein the operations further include: in responseto determining that information processed from the sensor data indicatesno children located in the viewing area and indicates that viewers inthe viewing area are adults, replacing the first advertisement with asecond advertisement prior to a presentation by the media device,wherein the second advertisement is determined to be appropriate for amature audience.